Refrigerating apparatus



July 24, 1934. M LY 1,967,420

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS ori inal Filed Dec. 50. 1926 INVENTOR Glenn Mz/ffl ATTORNEYS.

fatented July 24, 1934 1,957,420 REFRIGEBATING APPARATUS I Glenn Muflly, Detroit, Mich, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Copeland Refrigeration Corpoe ration, Mount Clemens,-Micb., a corporation of Michigan Original application December 30, 1926, SerlalNo. 157,905. Divided and this application October 15, 1929, Serial No. 399,833

7 Claims. (01. arc-9s) The present invention is a division of my application for Letters Patent in the United States for Improvements in thermostatic switches, filed December 30, 1926, and serially numbered 157,905.

'It has heretofore been the common practice to employ as a mercuryswitch a glass tube having electrodes inserted within one end thereof and having a quantity of mercury therein which is 10 moved to open and close they electric circuit between the electrodes by tilting the tube. It has always been necessary to employ mechanical means to cause the tilting of the tube which are in many cases unsatisfactory because of the inaccuracies arising from friction and spring tension adjustment.

An object of my invention is to provide an adjustment of a thermostatically operated switch by relative location rather than by spring tension.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mercury switch which will not lose its adjustment while in transit.

A further object is to provide a control for a mechanical refrigerating system including a temperature responsive control member manually shiftable between zones of diflerent temperatures, whereby to vary by the combined effect of the dififerent temperatures of the two zones the point of operational? the control.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and construction of the various parts of my improved device, as described in the specification, claimed in my claims and shown in the accompanying drawing, i which:

' Fig. 1 is a partial sectional elevationillustrating'the' mounting of my device upon a refrigerator cabinet, and meansfor adjusting its position in relation to different temperature zones within the refrigerator.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper end of the bulb shown in Fig. 1, with the contact between the electrodes broken.

I have shown in-the figures an elongated glass tube v10 terminating at the lower end in a bulb and at the upper end in a bulb provided with an offset pocket-36 separated from the main portion of the bulb 35 by the upwardly extending portion or hump 37. Within the tube 10, filling 50 the bulb and the tube to a point just within the lower portion of the bulb 35. is a quantity of Electrodes 12' and 13 are inserted and secured in the upper wall of the bulb 35 and mercury 11.

have their upper ends threaded to receive the nuts 4 and 15 respectively. Washers 18 and 17 are fitted over the ends of the electrodes 12 and 13 beneath the nuts 14 and 15 and rest against the ends of the bosses l8 and 19 through which the electrodes 12 and 13 are inserted into the bulb 35. I The electrode \12 is positioned on one no side of the hump 37 and the electrode 13 is positioned on the other side thereof and extends into the pocket 36. I

Attached to the electrode 12 by the nut 14 is a wire 20 which leads to a source 21 of electric power and the wire 22 leads from the source 21 to the motor 23 which operates the mechanical refrigerating mechanism 23a'and the opposite side of the motor 23 is connectedby the wire 24 with v the electrode 13 as diagrammatically shown in 70 1- This bulb is mounted on the top of ,a refrigerating cabinet 50. The tube 10 is vertically slidably positioned in a bushing 51 which is fitted in the top of the cabinet 50, with the bulb 7 positioned in the cooling compartment 60 of the cabinet and preferably within the brine tank 61 thereof as shown, and with the bulb 35 positioned above the top of the cabinet. A pinion rack '52 is secured against axial movement to w the tube 10, and a pinion 53, mounted on a bracket 54 secured to the top of a cabinet 50,

is positioned adjacent the rack 52 and in engagement therewith. The pinion 53 may be turned by a suitable crank or lever (not shown) 35 and will operate to raise or lower the bulb 7 in the-cooling compartment or the brine tank 61, as the casemay be. In operation, as the temperature of the cooling compartment 60 or brine tank 81, as the case may be, rises to 9. predetermined point the mercury 11 in the bulb 'i and the tube l0 will expand and rise in the, tube 10 and in the bulb 35 until the mercury flows over the hump 37, and'thus closes the circult between the electrodes 12 and 13, closing the circuit between the source 21 of electric power 'and the motor 23 and permitting a flow of electric current through the circuit to drive the motor 23, which in turn operates the refrigerating mechanism and reduces the temperature of the cool.- ing compartment 60 and brine tank 61 the latter element is connected by means of a conduit 82 to a refrigerating mechanism 23a. The reduction of temperature in the cooling compartment or brine tank. as the case may be, of the refrigerator cabinet to a predetermined degree causes a contraction of the mercury 11 in the bulb '7 and tube 10 and a consequent lowering thereof in the bulb 35. When'the level of the mercury in the bulb 35 falls below the upper 1.10

edge of the hump 37, as indicated in Fig. 2, the electrical contact between the electrodes 12 and 13 through the mercury will be broken, thus opening the motor circuit and stopping operation of the refrigerating mechanism.

In view of the fact that both the bulb '7 and tube 10 extend into the refrigerated compartment 60 or brine tank 61, as the case may be, and the tube 10 extends intothe'warmer air surrounding the cabinet 50, it will be apparent that the mercury 11 will be acted upon both by the temperature within the cabinet and the temperature outside of the cabinet to control the level of mercury in the bulb 35. From this it will be apparent that if the pinion 53 is turned to place a greater amount of the tube 10 within the cabinet, a greater volume of the mercury will be exposed to the lower temperature in the cabinet and a smaller amount to the higher temperature on the outside of the cabinet. In a like manner, if the pinion 53 is rotated to bring more of the tube 10 outside of the cabinet, a smaller amount of the mercury will be exposed to the influence of the temperature within the cabinet and a greater amount to the temperature outside of the cabinet. By thus varying the relative amounts of the mercury inside and outside of the cabinet by rotating the pinion 53, it will be apparent that the particular temperature within the cabinet 50 required to vary the level of the mercury in the tube 35 between open and closed circuit positions will likewise, be varied, and by this movement of the tube 10 the temperature which-it is desired to maintain within the cabinet may be easily and quickly controlled at will.

Although-I have shown this temperature responsive control as being movable between the inside and the outside of the cabinet, it will be apparent that it is applicable in the same manner between two zones of different temperatures within the cabinet itself. v

I desire it to be understood that other devices or materials having similar properties or effects may be substituted for those shown without departing from my invention.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made in the arrangement, combination and construction of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may be reasonably included within the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerating system, in combination, a refrigerated element, a zone of higher temperature adjacent said element, a control element actuated by temperature changes positioned to be influenced by the temperatures of both said refrigerated element and said zone, and means for varying at will the position of said control element relative to said refrigerated element and said zone whereby to vary the average working temperatures of said refrigerated element, said zone,'and said refrigerating system.

2. In a refrigerating system, in combination, a pair of zonesof constantly different temperatures, a temperature responsive control element, and means for varying at will the heat conducting relation between said control element and both of said zones for purposes of varying the average working temperature of the system.

a pair of zones of constantly diiierent temperrw tures, at least one of said zones being refrigerated, a temperature responsive control device asso ciated with both of said zones,'and means for varying at will the proportional amounts of said device exposed to the temperatures in said zones for purposes of varying the average working temperature of the system.

4. In a refrigerating system, in combination, a pair of zones of constantly different temperatures, a temperature responsive control element associated with bothof said zones, and means operable at will for moving said control element between said zones whereby to vary the respective efiects of the temperatures of said zone thereon for purposes of varying the average working temperature of the system.

5. In a mechanical refrigerating system, in

combination with the motor and electrical circuit tive thereto, whereby to enable the heat transferring relation between said parts to be varied to vary the operation of said switch for purposes of varying the average working temperature of the system.

6. A refrigerating system comprising a con- 1 tainer for refrigerating liquid, a cooling unit for the liquid, a thermostat unit for controlling the operation of the cooling unit, and means for changing the position of the element with respect -to the container whereby to cause the means for cooling the. liquid permanently to change the temperature of said liquid so long as the relation of the container and thermostat is maintained.

'7. A refrigerating system comprising a container for a refrigerating liquid, said container being surrounded by a medium of higher temperature than that of the liquid, an electrically operated cooling device for the liquid, a thermostat switch for controlling the operation of the cooling device and associated with the container, and means for shifting the position of the thermostat with respect to the container whereby to cause the cooling device permanently to change the temperature of the liquid in the container so long as the particular relation of the container L 

